You've Been Here
by ayarian88
Summary: What if Tristan was actually Lucas? Okay so here me out. Tristan Dugrey is actually Lucas Tristan Scott. The DuGreys in Hartford were actually Karen's cousin and had agreed to get him out of Tree Hill for a while. Well when he was sent to military school Karen actually brought him back home to Tree Hill. And what if Peyton's mom had actually been a Gilmore?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: OTH/GG. My first crossover. What if Tristan was actually Lucas? Okay so here me out. Tristan Dugrey is actually Lucas Tristan Scott. The DuGreys in Hartford were actually Karen's cousin and had agreed to get him out of Tree Hill for a while. Well when he was sent to military school Karen actually brought him back home to Tree Hill. And what if Peyton's mom had actually been a Gilmore? Lorelai's twin to be exact. Now its been four months since Tristan (aka Lucas Scott) has been back in Tree Hill. Lorelai's planning a vacation. And it just happens to involve Tree Hill.

Chapter 1

Tree Hill…Lucas (Tristan) POV

It's been four months since Mom brought me back to Tree Hill. I gotta say it's nice to be back but I can't get her out of my head. _Rory Gilmore._ I know that Mom's worried about me…I know she is. She even tried to get Keith to talk to me. Hales has been hanging out with Nathan but I can't stand the guy so we haven't been talking that much. Keith convinced me to join the Ravens but the guys hazed me. It was pretty brutal. Today I'm working at Keith's, but I decide to stop by the Café to get a bite before heading over. When I walked in, Mom was standing at the counter. "Hey Mom." I said, walking over and taking a seat.

"Hey, you headed to Keith's?" She asked me.

"Yeah, thought I'd come get something to eat first though." I said.

"Okay. You want a burger?" She asked me.

"Thanks Mom."

Peyton POV - her bedroom

I was sitting on my bed, working on a sketch when I looked up and saw my Dad standing in the doorway. "Hey Dad." I said.

He walked in and sat on my bed. "Hey. So I need to talk to you." He said.

I sat up a little bit. "Everything okay?" I asked. He had this serious tone about him, he only ever had it when it came to something that he was unsure I would feel about.

"Your mom's sister and your cousin are coming to visit." He said.

"Aunt Lorelai's coming?" I asked and he nodded. "But normally we have to go to Stars Hollow to see her and Rory."

"I know. She said that Rory just got out of a tough relationship and she could use a break. Honestly I just think that she wants to get out of Connecticut for a while." Dad said.

"That's understandable. Grandma and Grandpa aren't exactly the easiest people to get along with." I said.

"I know. That's why we don't go there often. Just promise to make Rory feel comfortable while she's here. Maybe you and Brooke can take her shopping or something."

"Sure thing Dad." I said.

Stars Hollow…Rory POV

"What do you mean we're going to Tree Hill?" I asked mom. She had bounced into my room early that morning and told me that we were taking a vacation. Dean and I had broken up two weeks ago and I think that she was just tired of me moping around.

"I mean, that we're going to see your Uncle Larry and your cousin Peyton." Mom said.

"Mom, we've never once been to Tree Hill. They always come here. Why is now any different?" I said.

"Because. I need a vacation and so do you." She said.

"Fine. Whatever." I said, as I stuck my earbuds back in my ears and turned my music up. At least it was spring break, maybe I could see if Peyton wanted to spend some time at the beach. Maybe even meet a cute guy…yeah that could work. Spring break fling to get over Dean. Even if the breakup had been building. Things hadn't been the same the last four months. Not since… _he_ left.

Several hours later, we pulled into a driveway and climbed out of the jeep. We walked up to the front door and Mom rang the bell. The door opened and there was Uncle Larry. I never met my mom's sister. She died when I was little. They had drifted apart when her and Uncle Larry moved to Tree Hill and got married. Peyton's mom had died after getting into a car accident. Mom had left me with Sookie so that she could come up here with Grandma and Grandpa for the funeral. "Lorelai." Uncle Larry said.

"Hi Larry." Mom said as she stepped inside and hugged him.

When they both stepped back from the hug, Uncle Larry looked at me. "Hi Rory." He said pulling me into a hug.

"Hi Uncle Larry." I said. "Is Peyton here?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, she's upstairs in her room. Top of the stairs on the right." He said.

"Thanks." I said. I made my way up the stairs and I saw that Peyton's door was open. "Hey." I said.

Peyton was laying on her bed drawing. In my opinion, she was an incredible artist. She leaned up and looked back at me when she heard me. "Hey, you finally made it." She said, sitting up.

"Yeah, just got here." I said, walking in and sitting on the edge of her bed. "No big plans tonight?" I asked, knowing that normally she would be at a party on a Friday night.

"Supposed to meet Brooke at a party on the beach. I was waiting for you to see if you wanted to go." She said.

I nodded. "Sure. Not sure if I'm dressed ok." I said. I had a pair of blue jeans and a thin sweater on.

"Jeans are okay. We gotta find you a different shirt though." She said. "And I know just the one." She got up from the bed and walked over to her closet. I followed her. She pulled a shirt and a leather jacket out and handed it to me. "This is perfect." She said. I took them from her and went into her bathroom and changed. I was surprised at how good it looked on me. It definitely wasn't my usual look but it worked. When I walked out of the bathroom, she looked at me. "Perfect. Let's go." She said and we walked out of her room and downstairs. Mom and Uncle Larry were sitting in the living room when we came downstairs. "Okay Dad, we're gone." She said.

"Where?" Uncle Larry asked.

"Beach party. Nathan's parent's beach house." Peyton told him.

"Okay. Be safe. Watch out for Rory. You're the only person she knows."

"I know Dad. Hi Aunt Lorelai." She said.

"Hi Peyton. Have fun girls." Mom said.

And with that we were gone. I wasn't sure what would happen but at this point I didn't really care.

Beach Party….Lucas POV

I wasn't much of a partier but Brooke had been telling me that I needed to have more fun. When I showed up at the party, Brooke was standing around the kitchen island with Nathan, Haley, Tim and Theresa. I wondered where Peyton was. They usually came to these things together. "Hey guys." I said, when I walked into the kitchen.

"Hey Luke." Haley said.

"Hey Lucas, glad to see that you finally took my advice." Brooke said handing me a cup.

"Yeah well you said that I need to have more fun. No Peyton tonight?" I asked her.

"She's coming later. Her cousin came into town so she was gonna wait and see if she wanted to come." Brooke said.

I nodded. "Where's she from?" Haley asked Brooke.

"Connecticut…I think. Not really sure. She doesn't talk about her Mom's family much. Brings up memories." Brooke said.

"I'm sure the four of us can find something to do while she's here." Haley told her and Brooke agreed.

"Yeah." Brooke said as she took a drink. "Oh there she is."

"Hey guys." Peyton said as she walked into the kitchen and joined us. "Hey I wanna introduce you guys to my cousin." She said. "Guys I want you to meet -" Peyton said as I turned around.

"Rory." I said, barely above a whisper.

She looked up at me when I said her name. "Hi Tristan." She said.

There were only two people in our group that knew my full name. Haley and Nathan. "You guys know each other?" Peyton asked.

"We went to school together in Hartford." I said. I had told everyone about my stupid stunts that I had pulled at Chilton. I had told them about the girl that wouldn't go out with me. I just never told them her name.

"Lucas Scott…Please tell me that my cousin is not the girl that you told us about." Peyton said.

I notice Rory blush. "You talked about me?" Rory asked me.

"Yeah well your kind of hard to forget." I said. She smiled at me.

"Okay…Anyway, Rory I want to introduce you to every one. This is Brooke, Nathan, and Haley." Peyton said.

"It's nice to meet you guys." Rory said. "Excuse me I need some air." Rory said, grabbing a cup and walking outside. Once she walked outside I turned back to the group.

"What?" I asked.

"Don't you look at me like that. You know what? Your in love with my cousin aren't you?" Peyton asked with a smirk.

"I don't know. But I know that I need to talk to her." I said. "Catch you guys later."

Rory POV

After I grabbed a cup and walked outside, I made my way down to the beach. I couldn't believe it. Tristan was here. Only everyone seemed to be calling him Lucas here. I wasn't quite on the beach. It was more like a pier. I leaned against the side of it and took a drink. I hated alcohol but if I was going to be seeing Tristan or Lucas or whatever he was calling himself, I was going to need some liquid courage.

"What're you doing here?" I heard someone asked. Not just anyone. Tristan or Lucas. Whatever.

"I told you. I needed some air." I said.

"No not here. Here in Tree Hill." He said, stopping in front of me.

"I'm visiting my cousin, Peyton and her dad." I told him.

"How are you guys even related?" He asked me.

"Her mom and mine were twins." I told him.

"And this is your first trip to Tree Hill?" He asked me and I nodded. There was an awkward silence. "You look good."

"Thanks. What happened to military school?"

"My mom got pissed when she found out and she brought me home." He said and I nodded.

"Why did Peyton call you Lucas?" I asked, finally wanting to know.

"It's my first name. When I was in Hartford, I was living with my Mom's cousin. They enrolled me in Chilton using my middle name and their last name. I didn't think much about it. So when I came home, I went back to everyone calling me Lucas or Luke. That's what they all know me as. There's only two people in that house that know my full name. Haley and I have been friends since we were little and Nathan…well Nathan's my brother. He's heard my mom use my full name a couple of time. Our relationship is complicated. Same dad different moms." He said.

"Well what do you want me to call you?" I asked.

"It doesn't matter. For you, I'll answer to either." He said. I nodded and smiled a little. I took another drink. "How's Dean?" He asked me.

I shuddered at the sound of Dean's name. "Oh. We uh…we broke. Couple weeks ago." I said.

"Oh sorry." He said, looking down at his feet.

"Why? I'm not. It had been coming. Things hadn't been the same since…" I said, trailing off.

He looked up at me. "Since what?" He asked.

"Since you left. The last thing that you told me before you left was that if Dean wasn't looking you would kiss me. And then you walked away. I don't know…something about that night changed the way that I saw my relationship with Dean. I tried but my heart wasn't in it. Then a few weeks ago, I went to surprise him at his house and he was making out with this girl from Stars Hollow High. I couldn't handle that so I broke up with him." I told him.

"Idiot." Lucas said.

"I believe that's the same thing you said that night at Madeline's." I said, smiling at him.

"Yeah well he is. Any guy that would cheat on you is an idiot." He said, smiling back at me.

I downed the rest of my drink. "I should go find Peyton." I said. I leaned up and kissed his cheek. I started to walk away. "I'll be seeing you Lucas." And with that I headed back to the house to find Peyton.

When I found her, she was talking to a guy. "Ror, there you are. This is Jake. Jake this is my cousin Rory." Peyton said.

"Hi." He said.

"Hi. It's nice to meet you." I said. "I was looking for you. I was wondering if you were about ready to go. I'm tired."

"Yeah, totally. Let's go." She said, kissing Jake goodbye. We headed out of the house and to her car. On the drive back to her house, she asked "So…"

"So…what? I like your friends their really cool." I said. I knew that she was fishing for information. It's the Gilmore blood in her.

"Don't change the subject. What happened with you and Lucas? Seems like there's a story there." She said.

I let out a sigh. "It's not an interesting one. I promise." I told her.

"I still wanna here it." Peyton said.

"We kissed once. At a party, the first time Dean and I broke up." I told her.

"Oh I remember that. It was the first Chilton party that you went to wasn't it?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Anyway, Dean and I had broken up the night before and then while at the party Summer had broken up with him in front of everyone. Anyway, I found him sitting in a music room tapping on the piano. So I walked over to him and sat beside him. We talked for a minute and then we kissed." I told her.

"Wow. That's totally not the Lucas Scott that we all know." She said.

"Yeah it's kinda weird. He's totally different here. And that's besides the name thing." I told her and she raised an eyebrow at me. "Hartford I knew him as Tristan. Apparently that is his middle name."

"You learn something new everyday." Peyton said.

I couldn't help but smile the rest of the way back to her house. It was the first time in weeks that I had really smiled.

Lorelai POV

The girls had been gone for about two hours. "Larry, I hope you know how much I appreciate you letting us come." I said, as he handed me a cup of coffee.

"It's no problem, Lor. You know that your always welcome. How'd Richard and Emily feel about you taking a spontaneous trip to Tree Hill?" Larry asked me.

I let out a sigh. "You know how they are. Even after all this time, they miss my sister. I mean she was the golden child. She at least waited until she got married to have a family. They hate that they don't get to see Peyton more than they do, but I get it." I said.

He nodded. "It's okay." He said. "Now what's really going on?" He asked me.

"I don't know. Rory and her boyfriend broke up after she caught him cheating on her. I'm grateful for all the help my parents have given me but another part of me thinks that maybe it's time for a change." I said. "Maybe it's time for a change in scenery."

"You thinking about moving to Tree Hill?" Larry asked me.

"Maybe I don't know. I guess I'll figure it out this week while I'm here." I told him.

"It might be good." Larry said.

I smiled. Half an hour later, the front door opened and the girls walked in. "Hi girls how was the party?" I asked.

They both walked into the living room and sat on the couch. "It was good. I ran into someone from Hartford." Rory said.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Who?" I asked.

"Bible boy." She said.

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's complicated. He goes by Lucas here." She told me. I knew that Rory liked Bible boy but she hadn't wanted to admit it to herself. I smiled at her. Maybe being in Tree Hill would be a good thing. Only time would tell.

A/N: Hope you guys liked it. Let me know what you think.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Okay glad to see that everyone is enjoying this story so far. It's my first crossover so I was a little unsure about if anyone would like it. I do need to clarify the pairings though.

Lucas/Rory (eventually)

Peyton/Jake

Nathan/Haley

Karen/Keith

Brooke/ ?

Chapter 2 - Saturday Morning

Karen's Café…Lucas POV

When I walked into the café the next morning, Haley was standing behind the counter. I sat down. "Coffee?" She asked me.

"Yeah thanks." I said.

"So, you wanna talk about it?" She asked me.

I looked at her confused. "Hales, what are you talking about?" I asked her.

"The girl? Peyton's cousin?" She said.

"Hales, just drop it." I said, as she poured me a cup of coffee.

"Drop what?" I heard Mom ask as she walked in from the kitchen.

"About the girl from Hartford that Luke knows but doesn't want to talk about." Haley said. I glared at Haley.

Mom looked at me. "Lucas?" She said.

I let out a sigh. "You remember me telling you about the girl from the play?" I asked.

"The one where you were supposed to play Romeo to her Juliet." Mom said.

"Yeah, that one. It turns out that she's Peyton's cousin. Anyway, she showed up at the party with Peyton last night. She's staying with Peyton this week." I told her.

"Wow. That's interesting." Mom said.

"Yeah."

"How do you feel about it?" She asked me.

"I don't know honestly. I didn't think that I'd ever see her again." I said. Mom nodded understanding.

Peyton's Bedroom - Rory POV

When Peyton and I had gotten home from the party last night, we had ended up back in her room listening to music and eventually we just passed out. When I woke up the next morning, Peyton was sitting at her computer. "Morning." I said.

"Morning sleepy head." Peyton said. "How'd you sleep?"

"Not bad. Your bed's comfy." I said.

"Thanks. So I was thinking that we could go shopping today. Brooke's dad has a yacht, so we were thinking about taking it out later." Peyton said.

"That sounds cool. I just have to change and I'll be ready." I said. After changing into a different pair of jeans, a tank top and my blue jean jacket. "Okay, ready?" Peyton nodded, grabbed her leather jacket and we headed to the mall.

Peyton and I were walking around the mall, when I stopped in front of Starbuck's. "Coffee break?" She asked me. I nodded. We went in and ordered coffee. After we got our coffee, we grabbed a table. "So, you've been quiet today. Something or _someone_ on your mind?"

"I don't know. I guess it just surprised me when I saw him last night." I said.

"You know, I've know him since we were kids…but as we got older Brooke and I became cheerleaders and we became popular and we just drifted apart from the kids we used to know. It wasn't until he came back from Hartford and joined the basketball team that we all reconnected. Not to mention his complicated relationship with Nathan." Peyton said.

"He mentioned it a little bit. What's the story?"

"Back in high school, his dad was this big basketball star. Anyway, when they were seniors he got Lucas' mom pregnant. When they graduated, he went off to college and got Nathan's mom pregnant." Peyton said. "When he found out that Nathan's mom was pregnant, he married her and then they moved back here."

"Wow. That's definitely complicated. At least our family's not that twisted." I said.

"That's true. We just have a crazy grandmother." Peyton said.

"That is true."

"Come on. We should get going if we're gonna meet up with Brooke." Peyton said and I nodded.

Lorelai POV

Larry and I had decided to go to a local café that he liked to go to. When we walked in, it kinda reminded me of Luke's. He led us to a table by the window and we sat down. A few minutes later, a brunette woman came over.

"Hi Larry. How are you?" She said.

"Hi Karen. I want you to meet my sister in law. Karen this is Lorelai. Lorelai this Karen, Lucas' mom." Larry said.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you." Karen said.

"It's nice to meet you too. I met Lucas back when he was in Hartford. He and my daughter had a school project to work on together." I said.

"Oh yeah. He's mentioned your daughter although he's never told me her name." Karen said.

I smiled at her. She seemed nice. "I like your place here. Reminds me of a diner that Rory and I go to back home." I said.

"Thanks. When I found out I was pregnant with Lucas, I knew that I had to do something to provide for us. I liked to cook and I wanted somewhere that people could come and feel at home." Karen said.

"You ever think about having a partner?" I asked her.

"You thinking about moving to Tree Hill?" She asked me.

"Yeah, I think that Rory and I need a change and Tree Hill doesn't seem much different than Stars Hollow. I think that Rory and I could be happy here and her and Peyton are close…almost like sisters. They always have been despite the distance." I said.

She nodded, like she understood what I was saying. "Well, if your sure…" Karen started.

"I am." I said.

"We could definitely talk about it." Karen said.

"Good." I said with a smile. "Now, how about some coffee?"

Lucas POV - River court

After talking to mom and Haley that morning, I decided that I needed to relieve some stress. I headed home to change and then headed to the river court to shoot some hoops. Basketball always helped me lower my stress level.

"Nice shot." I heard, when I made a basket. I turned around to see Rory standing there.

"Hey. How'd you know that I'd be here?" I asked her.

She walked over to the picnic table and sat on it. "Peyton said that you spent a lot of time here. She said it was either here or the rooftop of your mom's café." She said.

"Ah." I said. I walked over to her. "How's your day been?" I asked her.

"Well Peyton and I went shopping this morning and when we came back, my mom told me that we're moving here at the end of the school year." She said.

"Your moving to Tree Hill?" I asked.

"Yeah it surprised me too. I think part of it is she wants to feel closer to Peyton's mom. But the biggest surprise was when she told me that she's becoming your mom's partner at the café." She said.

"Seriously?" I asked and she nodded. "Wow. That's big. Mom loves that Café almost more than me." She laughed when I said this.

"It's not a bad town you got here, Scott. Maybe you can give me a tour sometime." She said.

 _Was Rory Gilmore flirting with me?_ "Maybe I can." I said. She stood up from the table and started to walk away back towards town. "Where you going?" I asked.

"There's a party on Brooke's dad's yacht. Maybe I'll see you there." She said.

Brooke's Dad's Yacht…Peyton POV

"Brooke, how did you convince your dad to let us use the yacht?" I asked her.

"Oh you know, just the usual." Brooke said, as the four of us (me, Brooke, Rory, and Haley) were sitting on the yacht, watching the sun set.

"You gave him the puppy dog eyes, didn't you?" Rory asked her.

"Yep. So, Peyton said your moving here?" Brooke asked Rory.

"Yeah, my mom thinks that we need a change of scenery." Rory said.

"Hey it won't be that bad. You have us…and Lucas." I said, earning myself a glare from Rory.

"What's going on there?" Haley asked.

"Probably about as much as you and Nathan." I said.

"Who fed you your bitchy pills this morning?" Brooke asked me.

"Nothing. I'm just in a mood. Jake's not texting me back." I said. "You don't think that Nikki's back do you? I mean, he only gets like this when she does." Rory looked at me confused. I'd forgotten that I didn't tell her about Nikki. "Nikki is Jake's baby mama." Her jaw dropped.

"Jake has a kid? How did you not tell me this?" Rory said.

"It slipped my mind." I said.

"Sure it did." She said.

"How'd your trip to the river court go?" I asked her with a smirk.

"It went great, thank you very much." Rory said with a smile.

"Did you tell him that your moving here?" I asked.

"Yep. He seemed to like the idea." She said.

"I bet. He's been moping around town ever since he came back from Hartford." Haley said.

"Haley!" Brooke and I said at the same time.

Lucas POV

When I got done shooting hoops at the river court, I headed home to shower and change. I had just gotten dressed when there was a knock at my door. I walked over and opened it. "Hey." It was Nathan.

"Hey so did you hear about this party tonight?" He asked me.

"The one on Brooke's dad's yacht?" I said and he nodded. "Yeah, Rory told me about it when she came by the river court earlier." He nodded. "What?" I asked.

"What's going on there? You already told us that she was the girl. How does it feel seeing her again?" Nathan asked me.

"I don't know. She told me today that she's moving here at the end of the school year." I told him.

"Seriously?" I nodded. "That's big."

"Yeah I know. What's going on with you and Haley?" I asked, not really sure if I wanted to know the answer.

"Things are okay I guess, when I'm not screwing up." Nathan said.

"Daddy dearest thrown his two cents in lately?" I asked.

"Not lately. Mom kicked him out of the house. He's been living at the beach house. When he's in town that is." Nathan said.

I nodded. "That's good I guess. At least that way he can't cause problems." I said.

"That's true. Hey, if your about ready we can head over to the party together." Nathan said.

"Nate, I love your my brother…but your not my type." I said, laughing.

"Shut up dude." Nathan said.

Brooke's Dad's Yacht…Rory POV

Ever since Mom had told me earlier in the day that we were moving to Tree Hill, I couldn't get it out of my head. I couldn't help but wonder why she wanted the sudden change. And what's worse is she's joining Lucas' Mom at her café. Mom can't cook to save her life. I didn't understand any of it. I was grateful for Peyton though. Her friends were nice and they seemed to let me into their group. I was sitting on the opposite end of the boat, when Haley approached me.

"Hey." She said.

"Hey." I said. She walked over and sat beside me. "What did you mean earlier?" I asked.

"About him moping around?" I nodded. "I've known Lucas almost my whole life. We've been best friends since kindergarten and I'm dating his brother. There's not a whole lot that I've ever seen him upset about…but when he came back from Hartford there was something different about him. He didn't say much to me about it which is unusual but what he did say was that he left someone pretty special behind." Haley said.

"And you think that person is me?" I asked.

She nodded. "I do. I saw the way that the two of you looked at each other last night."

"Thanks Haley." I said.

"Anytime." I said.

About an hour later, the party was in full swing. Peyton had finally gotten ahold of Jake and found out that he had been at the doctor with his daughter and that he wasn't going to make it to the party. Nathan and Lucas had a little while ago but I was avoiding him. I wasn't sure what to say to him after what Haley had said. I was I was standing in I guess could be considered a corner, when Peyton walked up. "You can't keep avoiding him." She said.

I glared at her. "I'm not." I said.

"You are. Just talk to him." She said. "Oh and my room is all yours. I'm going to Jake's after." I just nodded and laughed.

I had gone to get myself another drink when I bumped into Lucas…literally. "Hi." I said, when I looked up.

"Hi. I've been looking for you." He said.

"I've been around." I said. Which was true, I had just been hiding.

He nodded. "Listen, I was about to head out. Peyton said that you might need a ride." He said.

"Thanks. Let's go." I said. Lucas and I headed off the Yacht and up to the parking lot of the marina. He opened the passenger door to his truck for me. "Thanks." I said.

"Your welcome." I climbed in the truck and he shut the door. He walked around and climbed into the driver's side. "Did you want to head straight back or did you wanna go somewhere else?" He asked me.

"I'm not ready to go back yet. I just didn't want to be at the party anymore." I said.

He nodded. "Okay. I know just the place." He said. I smiled at him.

He drove us through town and over to his mom's café. When he parked his truck, I looked at him confused. "Your mom's café?" I asked him.

"Trust me, you'll love it. Come on." He said. I nodded and we both climbed out of the truck. He led us through the café and up to the rooftop. The view was incredible. He walked over and flipped a switch. The next thing I knew, the entire rooftop was lit up. "What do you think?" He asked me.

"This is incredible." I said, turning around and taking it all in.

"Thanks. Haley built it." He said. There was a picnic table so I walked over and sat on top of it, just like I had done at the river court. He walked over and stood in front of me. "You okay?" He asked.

"Yes…No…I don't know." I said. "I know that doesn't make any sense. Peyton's been questioning me about how I felt seeing you again." He nodded. "And honestly, I really didn't expect to see you. I mean, you left. Then I realized that I never hated you. I realized that I actually liked you. But then it was too late. You were gone. So, I had decided that since you were gone, that I was just going to have to push my feelings for you deep down." I said.

He sat next to me on the table. "And now?" He asked.

"And now, I'm here in your hometown, which my mom has decided to move to and all of my feelings are coming up." I said.

He grabbed my hand. "I missed you too, Rory." He said.

"And that's another thing. The entire time that I've been here, you haven't called me Mary one time. You've called me Rory." I said.

"You don't like it when I call you Mary. Your name is Rory. I've always known that. Besides, the whole Mary thing is a Hartford thing not Tree Hill." He said. I nodded. "I'm glad you're here. I missed you. I feel like during these last four months that a part of me was missing. I mean, I know that we weren't ever together but I missed you all the same. I missed talking to you and I missed seeing you at school." He said.

"And now that it's all changing?" I asked him.

"Rory, I'm not gonna lie. I always wondered what it would have been like had we been together." He said.

"Do you still?" I asked. I needed to know.

"Yes." He said. I leaned over and kissed him on the lips. When we both pulled back he was staring into my eyes. "No tears this time." He said smiling.

"Nope. No tears." I said. "I should go." I told him and he nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow." I stood up from the picnic table and headed back down and out of the café the way that we had come in. I started walking towards Peyton's house. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hope that everyone is liking this story. So

Chapter 3 - Sunday

Keith's Shop…Lucas POV

I was working at Keith's shop this morning. I currently working on a car when I noticed him standing there. "Yes?" I asked.

"So, your mom told me about the girl." He said.

"Should've known. Got any advice?" I asked him.

"Well, is it true? Is she the reason that you've been moping since you came back?" He asked me.

"I haven't been moping." I said, and he raised an eyebrow at me. "Yeah she is."

"And you still like her?" He asked me.

I nodded. "She kissed me last night." I told him.

"Then ask her out. Never known you to be scared of asking a girl out." Keith said.

"I know. She's just different." I said.

"Doesn't matter. If you like her, do something about it." He said and walked off.

Karen's Café…Rory POV

When I woke up that morning, Uncle Larry told me that my mom was waiting for me at the café. I got dressed and decided to head over. When I walked in, Mom was standing at the counter with a woman. I assumed that it was Lucas' mom. I walked up and sat down. "Hi mom." I said.

"Hey kiddo." She said. She turned to the woman. "Karen, this is my daughter Rory. Rory this is Karen, Lucas' mom."

"Hi Rory, I've heard a lot about you." Karen said.

"It's nice to meet you too." I said. I looked at mom. "You wanted me to meet you here?"

"Yeah. I found us a house. I wanted to let you know." She said.

"You couldn't have just texted me that." I said.

"Nope. I haven't seen you that much since we've been here." Mom said. "Just wanted to make sure that you're okay."

"I'm great. Karen do you mind if I go hang out on the rooftop and read?" I asked Karen.

"Not at all. Go ahead." She said.

"Thanks. I'll see you later." I said. I got up and made my way through the café and up to the rooftop. I found a swing and decided to make it my reading spot. I got comfortable and tried to read. After what seemed like forever, I couldn't focus on my book. I had the kiss from last night in my head. I hadn't heard from Lucas at all since it happened. I wondered if he was regretting it.

After a while I decided to head back down to the café and get something to eat. I was sitting at the counter. Karen had fixed me a burger and fries. "You look like you got something on your mind?" She asked me.

"Just taking everything in. So much has happened since I've been here." I told her.

"That tends to happen. It's not much of a town and I don't know everything, but from what your mom has said you've had a lot on your mind the last couple of months." Karen said, and I nodded. "Look it's not much but Haley works here some and if you want to too, you can."

"Thanks Karen." I said. She smiled at me before walking off and talking to a customer.

"My mom likes you." I heard from behind me.

I turned around and Lucas was standing there. "She's nice. I like her too." I said.

"So, I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go out with me?" He asked.

Wow. "When?" I asked him.

"Tonight?"

I nodded. "Sure." I said.

"Great. So, I'll pick you up at Peyton's at 7?" I nodded and smiled at him.

Lorelai POV…Kitchen window at the Café

Karen and I stood in the kitchen and watched the interaction between Rory and Lucas. "Well, that was interesting." I said.

"Well well well, I guess he decided to listen to Keith after all." Karen said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Keith called a little while ago and might have mentioned that Rory kissed Lucas last night." She said, and I smiled. "I know. Keith gave him a nudge to ask her out."

"Well, I definitely think moving here is the right decision." I said.

Rory POV…That evening Peyton's bedroom…

After Lucas asked me out earlier, I called Peyton. I told her. She was happy for me. She told me that she'd meet me at her house later and she'd help me get ready. We had just finished going through her clothes and mine trying to find me something to wear. We were out of ideas. She called Brooke. We needed reinforcements. Brooke said that she had the perfect thing. Peyton and I were currently sitting on her bed waiting, when Brooke walked through the door.

"Okay I'm here now." Brooke said. She handed me some clothes. "Put this on." She said.

I walked into Peyton's bathroom and changed. I was wearing a black ruffled mini-skirt, and a black and red backless tank. I walked out of the bathroom. "Wow." Peyton and Brooke both said.

"What? Do I look okay?" I asked.

"You look hot. Only…" Brooke said, walking over to Peyton's closet. She came back with a pair of black heels and Peyton's leather jacket.

"Oh, you're right. That will look good." Peyton said.

I laid the jacket on Peyton's bed and sat in the chair at her computer and put the heels on. When I was done, I stood up and slipped the jacket on. "What do you think?" I asked them.

"You look hot." Peyton said.

"Thanks." I said, just as we heard the doorbell.

They both looked at me. "Showtime." Brooke said.

"Rory!" We heard Uncle Larry call up the stairs.

"Be sure to tell us everything." Peyton said.

I nodded and made my way downstairs. When I got to the bottom of the stairs, Uncle Larry was standing there talking to Lucas. Lucas looked up at me and our eyes met. He stared at me. "Hi." I said.

"Hi. You look incredible." He said.

"Thanks. Courtesy of Brooke and Peyton." I said.

"Okay so, I don't know what the protocol is here. I'm mean, I'm your Uncle not your dad. So, until I talk to your mom, I'll give you the same rules I give Peyton. Curfew is midnight. If you're gonna be late call." Uncle Larry said.

I leaned up and kissed his cheek. "Thanks Uncle Larry." I said. He smiled at me. Lucas held his hand and we walked out.

He drove us to this little restaurant in the middle of town. We walked in and were seated immediately. We ordered our drinks and food. We talked through dinner. It was relaxed and easy. He asked about Chilton. I told him that Paris was still Paris. I told him it wasn't the same without him. After dinner, he asked if I wanted to take a walk on the beach. I told him that it sounded nice. When we got to the beach, I took my heels off. We were walking along the beach. "I hope that you had a good time tonight." Lucas said.

"I did. It's been nice." I said.

"I'm glad. So, I've been thinking about our conversation last night." He said.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. And then I thought about that kiss." I smiled at him. "And I was kind of wondering something."

I stopped walking and turned to look at him. "What's that?" I asked.

"I know that at the end of the week, you've gotta go back to Stars Hollow till the end of the school year, I was wondering if when you leave if you'd do it as my girlfriend?"

Wow. Lucas Scott just asked me to be his girlfriend. "What about the month and a half that I'm not going to be here?" I asked. I remembered his reputation back at Chilton. I just wasn't sure if it was the same here.

He grabbed my hand and laced our fingers. I smiled at the gesture and then looked back up at him. "You don't have to worry. If I did anything stupid, I'd have Peyton, Brooke, Haley and my Mom all in line to kick my ass." He said, laughing.

I laughed too. I smiled again. "Okay." I said.

"Okay? You'll be my girlfriend?" He asked.

I laughed. "Yeah, I'll be your girlfriend." I said. It was cute.

He pulled me to him. He placed his free hand on my cheek and leaned in and kissed me. This kiss was different. There was happiness in this kiss. It was like one that you would see in the movies where the girl gets kissed for the first time. When he pulled back, he rested his forehead against mine. We stood there like that for a while.

Brooke POV…Peyton's kitchen…

"You think they'll end up together?" I asked Peyton as we sat at her kitchen table eating ice cream straight out of the container.

"I think so. They've both been miserable. Besides it's not like it's just a fling. She's moving here." Peyton said.

"That's true." I said.

We continued eating our ice cream when I noticed a brunette woman walk in. "Hi girls." She said.

"Hi Aunt Lorelai." Peyton said. "Aunt Lorelai, this is Brooke, Brooke this is my Aunt Lorelai."

"It's nice to meet you. Rory's told me a lot about you. She says that you're the cool mom." I said.

"Thanks. It's nice to meet you too hun. Speaking of…where is Rory." Lorelai said.

"On a date with Lucas." Peyton said.

"Cool." Lorelai said. "Alright enjoy. I'm going to bed." She said as she walked out of the kitchen and into the guest bedroom.

"I like her." I told Peyton.

"Yeah. She's pretty cool. She's kinda been like a distant mom to me since my mom died." Peyton said.

I knew that it was hard for her to talk about her mom even if it had been 7 years. "How you are doing with it all having Lorelai here?" I asked her.

"I'm okay. It'll be nice having her around all the time. Although that does mean that there's a chance that my grandparents will start coming here." Peyton said.

"What're they like? You don't talk about them much." I said.

"They come from the high society of Hartford. Mom and Lorelai were twins. When Lorelai got pregnant with Rory at sixteen, mom had just met dad they eloped. Turned out mom was already pregnant with me. I just don't know if my grandparents know that. Anyway, mom and dad moved here. When Rory was one, Lorelai packed up and moved to this small town…Stars Hollow. She got a job working as a maid. Now she runs the place." Peyton said. "My grandparents…their complicated. They frown upon the fact that both our moms started families at sixteen. So, it's like they expect more out of me and Rory. More so Rory, since she lives closer to them. Last summer my grandmother, signed us up for the debutante ball."

"Ouch." I said, taking a bite of my ice cream.

"Yeah, so needless to say…they're already trying to figure out who to marry us off to." Peyton says.

"That's disturbing." I said.

"Yeah I know." I hung out with Peyton for a while before I headed home. I needed a boyfriend. Everyone else had someone. I felt lonely and left out. Maybe I would see if there was a party at Duke this weekend.

Rory POV

After Lucas and I finished our walk on the beach, we headed back towards town. We decided to get some coffee so we headed over to the café. Karen had already closed for the night, so Lucas used his key and let us into the café. I sat down at the counter while he went behind the counter and started the coffee. Once he started the coffee, he stood in front of me on the other side of the counter. "So, anything special you want to do this week?" He asked me.

"Not really sure. What are your plans?" I said.

"Working most of the week. My father has been sending a bunch of customers over to Keith's to get some work done." Lucas said.

"That's cool. Mom found us a house. I think that she wants to paint it this week while we're here." I said.

"That's cool, I can help if you want." He said.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah. It means that I get to spend time with you." Lucas said. I smiled at him.

"How's that coffee coming?" I asked, smirking at him.

Peyton POV - her bedroom

After Brooke left, I put the ice cream back in the freezer and headed up to my bedroom to wait for Rory. I sat on my bed with my sketchpad and my colored pencils. I leaned against my headboard. Jake had called me earlier, right after Brooke left and said that Nikki was going after custody. He said that he was leaving Tree Hill. And that was it…we broke up.

I was sitting there working on a sketch when Rory came in, climbed on the bed and sat beside me. She laid her head on my shoulder. "How was the date?" I asked her.

"It was good. We went to dinner, took a walk on the beach and then went to the café for coffee." Rory said. "I told him about the house. He wants to help us paint."

"That should be fun." I said.

"What's wrong? You seem down."

"Jake called. Nikki's going after custody. We broke up and he left town." I told her.

"I'm sorry." She said.

"It's not your fault."

A/N: Ok so that's chapter 3. Thanks for all of the reviews you guys. Glad your loving this story. Next chapter Lorelai shows Rory the house and guess who her next door neighbor is? Don't forget to read, review and favorite. Till next time.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - Monday

Rory POV…new house front yard

My date with Lucas had been great but when I had gotten back to Peyton's last night, she had been heartbroken over Jake. We ended up falling asleep after she cried for two hours. I woke up this morning to Mom dragging me and Peyton out of bed. Once we'd had coffee, Mom was practically pushing us out of the door. She drove us a couple of blocks over and pulled into a driveway. When we climbed out of Mom's jeep, Peyton had this look on her face. I turned and looked at her. "Peyt, what's wrong?" I asked her.

"I know who lives next door." She said, and I looked at her confused.

"Who?" I asked.

"Lucas Scott." She said.

"No." I said, and she nodded. I turned and looked at Mom. "Tell me you didn't?" I asked while glaring at her.

"What? I thought you'd be happy." Mom said.

Peyton and I both rolled our eyes. "That's not the point Mom." I said.

"Aunt Lor, you realize by moving next door to Lucas that you're making it too easy for her to sneak out, right?" Peyton said.

Mom glared at us. "Hey! I'm the cool mom, remember? Why would she even need to sneak out?" Mom asked us.

I looked at Peyton and she nodded. I turned back to Mom. "Okay, you may be the cool mom, but we're still teenagers…sneaking out is a rite of passage." I told her.

Mom threw her hands up in surrender. "Okay, fine. I should have talked to you about the house before I bought it." Mom said. "Happy?"

"Yes, thank you." I said. Peyton and I started laughing.

"Do you want to check out the house?" Mom asked.

"Yes please." I said. Mom led us into the house. The house was simple. It looked pretty similar to our house in Stars Hollow. The downstairs had the living room, kitchen, a bathroom and a bedroom. The upstairs had two bedrooms and a bathroom. "It's nice Mom." I said after looking around the house.

"So, you like it kid?" She asked me.

"Yeah I do." I said. I turned to Peyton. "What're you thinking about paint?" I asked her.

Peyton looked deep in thought. "Red and black?" She asked.

"Checkered?" She nodded. "Sounds like a plan. You guys get the paint and I'll go get Lucas." I said. They both agreed. The three of us walked out of the house. Mom and Peyton hopped in the jeep and headed to the paint store. I walked next door and knocked on the front door. A few minutes later, Lucas opened the door. "Surprise." I said.

I leaned in and kissed me. "Hey. What're you doing here?" He asked me.

"I was in the neighborhood checking out my new house." I said.

"Oh yeah where's it at?" He asked looking at me confused.

"Next door." I said.

"Really?" I nodded, smirking at him. "Well that's convenient."

"That it does. Mom and Peyton went to get the paint. Do you wanna help now or do you have plans?"

"I can't now. I gotta go knock some sense into Nathan." He said.

"Everything okay?"

He walked outside and shut the door. We walked over to the swing on the porch and sat down. "I don't know. Haley called last night when I got home and said that she and Nathan got into a fight. She wants me to talk to him." He said.

"Well you're a good friend." I said.

He put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close to him. "I am but hopefully you think that I'm a better boyfriend than I am a friend." He said.

I smirked at him. "It's too early to tell." I said.

"Oh really?"

"Yep." He started to tickle me, so I stood up and took off.

"Oh, you're so gonna get it." He said coming after me.

"You gotta catch me first." I said. I ran down the front steps, across his yard and toward mine. Before I made to my yard, Lucas grabbed me by the waist and spun us around. The next thing I know, he is throwing me over his shoulder. "Lucas, put me down." I said.

"Nope not a chance." He said.

All of a sudden, I heard an all too familiar voice. "Now this is a sight."

I lifted my head and saw Mom and Peyton leaning against the jeep. "Hi mommy." I said.

"Hi Lorelai." Lucas said.

"Are you two done?" Mom asked. We both nodded. "Okay good. Lucas would you mind putting Rory back on the ground now?"

Lucas sat me back on the ground. "Did you get the paint?" I asked Mom. She nodded. "And you remembered to get brushes and rollers, right?"

"Hello, I went with her." Peyton said.

"Right. Should we start?" I asked. They both nodded. I smiled. I turned to Lucas. "So, you'll come by after?" I asked.

"Yeah. See you later." He said, kissing my cheek. "Bye Peyt, Lorelai."

"Bye Luke." Peyton said. Mom just stood there and shook her head.

Haley POV… Karen's Café…

Nathan was such an idiot. How could he think that I wouldn't be bothered by the fact that he still had a bunch of half-naked pictures of Peyton on his phone. I mean he had to know right?

I was working my shift at the Café when Lucas walked in. "Hey Luke." I said.

"Hey. You got time to talk?" He asked me.

I nodded. "Yeah. Give me a minute." I said. He nodded and walked back to the kitchen. I walked over to a table where a customer had just sat down, and I took their order. I walked into the kitchen and handed Mike the order. I found Lucas standing by the back door. I walked over to him. "Hey what's up?" I asked him.

"What happened with Nathan?" He asked.

I let out a sigh. "I found a bunch of half-naked pictures of Peyton on his phone that he kept from when they were dating." I said.

"Hales. You know that it's gotta be an oversight, right?" He asked me.

"Seriously? Your taking his side right now?" I asked. I couldn't believe this.

"I'm not taking his side. I'm just wondering if you've completely thought this through."

I shook my head. "I have to get back to work." I said.

Nathan POV…river court

I needed to clear my head. I hated it when Haley and I got into a fight. She was right though. I should have deleted those pictures when me and Peyton broke up. I mean, hell, they were even friends now. I was shooting hoops when I looked over and saw Lucas walking towards me. "Haley send you?" I asked.

I tossed the ball to him. "Yep. Pictures dude?" He asked me.

"I know stupid." I said.

"Yep. You know, I'm missing out on valuable time with my girlfriend cause I had to come down here." He said with a smile.

"Girlfriend? You asked her out?" He nodded.

"Yeah, and she's moving in next door." Lucas said.

"Huh who knew?" I said as Lucas took a shot and the ball bounced to me. "So, any idea how I fix this with Haley?" I asked him.

"Delete the pictures, apologize and tell her that they were from when you guys dated."

"Yeah maybe."

Meanwhile back in Stars Hollow…Dean POV

 _It's been three days. I haven't seen Rory around town like I normally would during spring break. I figured that we would be back together by now. I mean sure, she caught me cheating on her with Lindsay…but I mean what else could I do. Rory had been distant and ignoring me. Sure, I could've broken up with her, but I loved her._

I was walking past Lane's house on my way to the high school to play football with some of the guys, when I saw Lane standing outside. Maybe she would know where Rory was. "Hey Lane." I said.

"What do you want Dean?" Lane asked me.

"Have you seen Rory? I have seen her around lately." I said.

"She's gone." Lane said.

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"I mean, she can't stand you. You're a lying, cheating bastard who doesn't deserve her. You never did." Lane said. "Now go away and leave me alone." Lane turned around and started walking toward her house. "And stay away from Rory."

 _I needed to find her. I needed to convince her that we're supposed to be together._

Rory's Room new house…Rory POV

Mom had gone to the café to get lunch and coffee. Peyton and I were in my room painting. "You okay?" I asked her. She shrugged. "I mean I know your not okay, but do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really. Still trying to process everything I guess." Peyton said. "I don't think that I've said this but I'm really glad you're here."

I smiled at her. "Me too. I wasn't exactly thrilled about coming when mom told me that we were coming here." I told her.

"Why?" She asked.

"I guess it was because I didn't know much about your life here. I guess I was kinda scared that I'd get here, and I wouldn't fit into your world. I mean for years, you've told me about how close you and Brooke are and I … I just didn't want to interfere." I told her.

Peyton stopped painting and turned toward me. "Hey, listen to me. You and me…we've never been like typical cousins. We've always been more like…"

"Sisters." I said, finishing her sentence.

"Yeah. And I mean yeah, Brooke's my best friend but your more than that to me. You're my sister. We're stuck with each other…for life. You and me we're blood." Peyton said. She was right. We had never been what you might consider typical or normal cousins. "I wouldn't change it for anything."

"Promise?"

"Promise." Peyton said.

A/N: And that's chapter 4. Rory's moving next door to Lucas. Jake and Peyton broke up. Dean's on a mission to find Rory. Oh well, wouldn't be Tree Hill without a little drama.

Till next time.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Okay guys, here's Chapter 5. I know that I said that I was only going to work on one story at a time but then the idea for this story came to me and I can't focus on anything else. So, I've been working on it. My kids are gone to their dad's til Christmas Day so I'm going to try and get a bunch written. The downside is I'm sick with a cold. Anyway, that's beside the point. You guys are great. This story has been better than I thought that it would. I mean, it's my first crossover, but what better way to celebrate the two year anniversary of writing fanfiction than to write my first crossover.

Final note…we're two chapters away til we head back to Stars Hollow. Who's excited?

Chapter 5 - Tuesday

Rory POV

Between Mom, Peyton and I, we were able to get the house painted. Lucas had never shown up. I hoped that there was an explanation, but I didn't want to get my hopes up. I had three days left in Tree Hill before Mom and I headed back to Stars Hollow to finish out the school year. Mom and Karen were meeting with the lawyers this morning to sign the contract of their partnership. They'd asked me to help Haley out at the café until they were done. As much as I didn't want to, I agreed. So here I was, walking to the café to help out. When I walked in Haley stared at me. "Rough night?" Haley asked me.

"Something like that. You fix things with Nathan?" I asked her.

"Lucas tell you?" She asked as I walked behind the counter and grabbed an apron to put on.

"A little. He was supposed to come over and help me and Peyton paint last night, but he never showed." I told her as I finished tying my apron.

"I'm sure it's nothing." Haley said as she hugged me.

Haley showed me the morning prep for the café before we opened. We had been pretty steady throughout the morning. I had just finished taking a customer's order when out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lucas walk in. I was walking back to the kitchen to give Mike the order when I turned around. "Hey can we talk?" Lucas asked me.

"I'm busy." I said.

"Ror, please." He said. I looked into his eyes.

"Give me five minutes." I said, and he nodded. I watched him walk over to the counter and sit down. Haley poured him a cup of coffee. I watched them talk for a minute until I heard Mike tell me my order was in the window. I took the order and gave it to the customer. I walked over to the counter, where Lucas was sitting. "What do you want?" I said, coldly.

"Your mad?" He said.

"Your damn right I'm mad." I said. "You bailed on me last night, Lucas."

"I'm sorry. I was talking to Nathan and we ended up shooting hoops. When I got back to the house you guys were already gone." He said.

"So, you couldn't have called? Couldn't have come by Peyton's?"

"I - I -"

"I have three days until I have to go back to Stars Hollow. It would've been nice to actually spend some time with my boyfriend." I said. I heard the door open and the bell jingle. I turned to see my mom and Karen walk in. "You screwed up." I said and walked away.

Lucas POV

I watched Rory walk away. Mom and Lorelai walked up to me. "What happened?" Lorelai asked me.

I let out a sigh. "You know I was supposed to help her paint last night, right?" They both nodded. "Well, I kinda got wrapped up with Nathan and didn't show up. On top of that I forgot to call. So, she's mad." I said.

Lorelai shook her head. "You screwed up, kid." Lorelai said.

"Yeah I know. How do I fix this?" I asked.

"It's gonna take a lot. Your gonna need lots of coffee, chili cheese fries, doughnuts, and red vines." Lorelai said, and I raised an eyebrow at her. "It'll help. It won't completely make up for you screwing up, but it'll help." I nodded.

Rory POV - Peyton's bedroom

When I got back to the house from working at the café, Peyton was blasting music in her room. I needed to get her out of the house. "Hey." I said when I walked in.

"Hey. How's was the café?" She asked me.

"It was good. Or at least until Lucas came in and distracted me." I said, sitting on the edge of her bed.

She turned around and looked at me. "What happened?"

"He came in and asked if we could talk. He said that he got wrapped in playing basketball and talking to Nathan that by the time he got back to the house we were gone." I told her.

"He couldn't call or come over here?"

"That's what I said. He didn't have an answer for that one."

"Idiot. We should do something." Peyton said.

"I was thinking the same thing. Let's grab Brooke and go to the beach." I said.

"Sounds good to me." I said. I went to change while Peyton called Brooke.

Nathan POV - Haley's house

I decided that it was time to talk to talk to Haley. I knew that she was working at the café this morning, so when I knew that she would be home, I headed over to her house. I rang the doorbell and waited. A few minutes later, Haley opened the door. "Hi." She said.

"Hey, I was wondering if we could take a walk and talk." I said.

She nodded. "Sure. I was supposed to meet up with Rory, Brooke and Peyton but I can be late." She said. "Let me grab my jacket."

I nodded. Haley grabbed her jacket and then stepped out onto the porch shutting the front door behind her. We started walking towards the docks. "I owe you an apology Hales. I know that when you saw the pictures that it looked really bad, but I want you to know that those pictures were from when we were dating. I should have deleted the pictures when we broke up. But I didn't, and I know, it's stupid and it's a lame excuse."

"Nathan…"

"But Hales I guess…part of me kept those pictures as a reminder that I tend to screw up." I told her.

"Nathan, I get all of that. I do. I just wish that I hadn't been bomb-shelled by those pictures." Haley said. "I'm not mad, I get it. You and Peyton were together for a while, sometimes I just wished that you felt the same for me." Haley said and then walked away.

Rory POV - Peyton's living room

After hanging out with Peyton and Brooke at the beach, I decided to head back to Peyton's house to relax and watch movies. Peyton went with Brooke to a party at Duke, Mom was at the café with Karen and Uncle Larry had headed out on a job. So here I was sitting on the couch watching tv. Mom and I were heading back to Stars Hollow in a couple of days. How could Lucas not understand that I wanted to spend my last couple of days in Tree Hill with him? How could he not understand that? I was about halfway through _Willy Wonka_ when I heard the doorbell. I paused the movie and went to answer the door.

When I opened the door, I was surprised to see Lucas. "What are you doing here?" I asked.

He was standing there with a couple of bags. "I came here to apologize. I brought you some food." He said. I nodded. "Ror, I'm sorry that I didn't show up last night. When I realized that I wasn't going to show up, I should have at least called or texted and I'm sorry that I didn't. I screwed up okay? I realize that. All I want is a chance to make it up to you."

I stood there and listened to him. I didn't know what to say. I mean, at least now he had realized that he had screwed up. I pointed to the bags that he was holding. "Is that for me?" I asked him.

He nodded. "Yeah. Your mom suggested that when I apologized that I should bring food." Lucas said.

"Come in." I said.

I led him to the living room. He sat the bags on the coffee table. I sat back in my spot on the couch. He started taking the food out of the bags. "Where is everyone?" He asked me.

"Well…Mom is at the café, Uncle Larry headed out on a job, and Peyton is with Brooke. They went to a party at Duke." I told him.

He sat the food containers on the table. "And you didn't want to go with them?" He asked.

I shook my head. "No. I just wanted to spend time with you while I still have it." I said.

"I really am sorry, Rory. I know that you only have a few days before you have to go back to Stars Hollow, I should have been here more." He said.

I opened one of the food containers and saw chili cheese fries. I took a bite. I looked up at Lucas and smiled. "I forgive you."


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hey guys, slight time jump. I apologize. I'm ready to get back to Stars Hollow. So here's chapter 6, I hope you guys enjoy it. I have a few surprises in store but I won't spoil them for you…not yet anyway. If I don't say it before then, I hope that everyone has a good Christmas with their families. Enjoy!

Chapter 6 - Friday

Rory POV - Peyton's living room

 _The last two days had been great. Haley and Nathan had made up and so had Lucas and I. When Lucas had come over the other night apologized, we watched movies until Mom came home from the café. Brooke and Peyton had gone to a party at Duke and Brooke had met this guy Chase. She had been talking non-stop about him since. Peyton was still bummed out about Jake._

 _Today was my last day in Tree Hill so we were spending it at the beach and then tonight we were having a bonfire. Peyton and I were currently getting ready to pick up Lucas and head to the beach when Mom walked in._

"Hi girls." Mom said.

"Hi mom. You not working at the café today?" I asked her.

"Later. I thought that I'd start packing today." She said.

"Sure. We're all heading to the beach, so we'll be gone all day and then there's a bonfire tonight. So, I don't know what time we'll be back." I said.

"Sounds good kid. And you know that if you crash anywhere other than here to call right?" Mom asked me, obviously referring to the winter dance fiasco.

"Yes." I told her. Peyton and I finished packing up the car and then we headed to go pick up Lucas. When we got there, he was sitting on the front porch talking to some guy. I climbed out of Peyton car and walked over to him. "Hey." I said.

He looked up at me. "Hey." Lucas said. I gave him a look. "Oh sorry. Keith this is Rory, Rory this is Keith."

"It's nice to finally meet you. I met your mom the other day when I was in the café." Keith said.

"It's nice to meet you too. Lucas has told me a lot about you." I said.

"Okay then…we should go. See you later, Keith." Lucas said.

"See ya."

Lucas and I walked over to Peyton's car and he climbed in the back. I climbed in the front and we headed to the beach.

Haley POV - Beach

"I don't know why your so upset." Nathan said.

I turned around and glared at him. "Because this is not a decision that you make on a whim." I said.

"Come on Hales. I wanna do this."

"Your absolutely sure?" I asked him.

"Yeah. Come on, Hales, it will be great."

I rolled my eyes. "I don't know, Nathan, I need to think about it." I said.

"Okay, I'll think about it." I said and walked down to the beach.

Brooke POV - Beach

"I hope your friends like me." Chase said as we walked down to the beach to join everyone.

"They're going to love you." I said.

"I hope so. I know that your friends are important to you."

"It's going to be fine." I said.

Rory POV - Beach

When we got to the beach Peyton took off to go find Brooke. Lucas and I grabbed everything out of the car and started making our way down. "Are you okay?" I heard Lucas ask me.

"Yeah, just thinking. I wish that I didn't have to go back to Stars Hollow tomorrow." I said.

Lucas wrapped an arm around me. "I know, I wish you didn't either, but what I do know is that you'll only be gone for a month and a half and then you'll be back. Okay?"

I nodded. "Your right. It won't be that bad. We'll talk and figure things out, right." I said.

"We will. I mean prom's coming up. So, I mean we have that to figure out." He said.

Prom? I hadn't even thought about it. "Yeah, absolutely." I said, smiling at him.

We made our way down to the beach. Brooke, Peyton, and Haley were sitting on lounge chairs. I walked over and joined them. "What're we talking about?" I asked as I sat on a lounge chair.

"About how much the rest of the school is going to suck without you here." Brooke said.

"Aww…I'm gonna miss you guys too." I said.

"So, Brooke and I were talking, and we want you to join the cheer squad next year." Peyton said.

"Seriously? Peyt, you know that I have no athletic ability." I said.

"And you can do this. You trust me, right?"

"Well yeah."

"Okay. Then you'll be great." Peyton said.

"It'll be fun right?" I asked, and they all nodded.

"Don't worry, I have no athletic ability either. So, we can be clumsy together." Haley said.

"Okay…I'm in." I said.

Brooke stood up and hugged. She started squealing. "Geez, Brooke don't kill her." Lucas said, causing me to laugh. Brooke let go and went back to her chair. "What's she so excited about anyway?" Lucas asked as he, Nathan and who I assumed was Chase walked over and joined us.

"Apparently me and Haley are gonna be cheerleaders next year." I said.

"The two of you?" Lucas asked us looking slightly confused. We both nodded. "But neither one of you is athletic."

I glared at him. "You think that we don't know that." I said. Lucas started laughing. "Lucas Scott, stop it." I said.

The day was going great. We were all having a blast. The sun was starting to set, so everyone was setting up for the bonfire. Lucas and I were still sitting on the beach and were watching the sun set. "So, I've been thinking today." I said, leaning against Lucas in the lounge chair that we were sitting in.

"About what?" He asked me.

"A lot of stuff actually. Mainly, I was thinking about Prom. I was thinking about how I really don't want to spend it around Paris." I said.

"So, you want to come here?" He asked me.

"Yeah, I mean, of course someone would have to ask me. But yeah, I'd love to come here for Prom." I said, trying to give him a hint.

"Well, if you need to be asked. Rory Gilmore, will you go to prom with me?" He asked me.

I looked up at him and smiled. "Lucas Scott, I would love to be your date to Prom." I said. I leaned up and kissed him.

We spent the rest of the night hanging out with everyone. After a while, Lucas and I took a walk down the beach. It was the last time that we would be able to spend some time together for a while. Peyton stayed to hang out with everyone and Lucas took me back to the house. We ended up watching a movie.

It was the best way to end the night.

 _Tomorrow was a new day. Tomorrow, Mom and I were headed back to Stars Hollow. I had no idea how things were going to be when we got back. Lane had texted me and said that Dean had been around and asking questions. I guess that I would find out when I got back. I was going to miss Tree Hill. I had already made some pretty incredible friends already in Tree Hill. I was sad to be leaving._


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Hey guys. I really enjoy reading the reviews that you guys leave me. Hope you guys like this Chapter too.

Chapter 7

Rory POV

Mom and I had gotten up early so that we could get on the road at a decent time so that it wouldn't be late when we got back to Stars Hollow. The trip back had been quiet. I wasn't sure what to say to Mom although she looked like she had something on her mind. We'd stopped about mid-way through the trip and gotten something to eat. We were sitting there eating when I finally decided to speak. "Are you okay, Mom?" I asked her.

"Yeah, I'm okay kid. I just didn't think that I was going to miss Tree Hill so much when we left." Mom said.

"I know me too." I said. The waitress came over and took our order. "So, I need to talk to you."

Mom looked at me confused. "Okay, you're not gonna tell me that you could possibly be pregnant, are you?" Mom asked.

I shook my head. "No. It has to do with Prom." I said.

"Oh. Okay. What about it?"

"Lucas and I were talking last night and I'm gonna come back and go to Prom with him." I said.

"Wow. Okay, that's cool kid." Mom said as the waitress brought our food. "I'm glad you're happy kid."

"Me too mom." After we ate, we got back on the road and we continued our trip back home.

When we got back to Stars Hollow, it was late. But lucky for us, Luke's was still open. Mom parked the jeep in front of Luke's and we went in to get some coffee.

"Hey Luke." Mom said when we walked in.

"Hey. You guys are back." Luke said.

Mom and I walked over to the counter and sat down. "Did you miss us Luke?" I asked as he poured me and Mom a cup of coffee.

"Oh, you know…" He trailed off. "You guys want anything to eat?"

"Nope just coffee." Mom said.

"Actually Luke, can I have my coffee to go?" I asked him. Mom looked at me. "I wanna go home and call Lucas." I told her.

Mom nodded. "Sure, I'll see you in a bit." Mom said as Luke handed me my coffee.

"See you later." I said, getting up and walking out the door. I started walking toward the house. When I got to the house, I noticed that there was someone sitting on the porch. "Hello." I said, slowly approaching the porch.

The person turned around. _Dean._ I slowly walked up the porch steps. "Dean, what're you doing here?" I asked.

"Rory, where've you been? I've been looking for you all week?" Dean asked.

"I was on vacation. I went to see my cousin." I said. "What're you doing here?" I asked again.

"I miss you." Dean said, taking a step toward me.

"Dean, stop." I said. "I need you to listen to me. I've moved on. I'm seeing someone." I told him.

"You're seeing someone?" I nodded. "Since when? We only broke up 2 weeks ago." He said.

"Yeah well, I reconnected with someone when I went to visit my cousin." I said.

"Wait, you're in a long-distance relationship?" He asked me.

"For now. I'm moving at the end of the school year."

I watched the look of shock as he realized what I was saying. "Your moving?" He asked, and I nodded. "When? Where?"

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that you need to move on. You need to move on and find someone else. You need to quit asking my friends about me. You need to quit showing up at my house." I said.

"So, it's really over?" He asked, looking sad.

I nodded. "I'm sorry Dean, it is." I said.

He walked down the porch steps and then turned toward me. "I'm sorry about everything Rory."

I smiled at him. "I know. Take care of yourself." I said, and he walked away. I walked into the house. It felt good to be home even though I was missing Tree Hill. I walked to my room and laid on my bed. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed Lucas' number.

"Hey beautiful." He said when he answered.

"Hey, so I made it home." I said.

"I'm glad." Lucas said.

"Yeah, however when I got to my house there was someone waiting on my porch for me."

"Who? Please tell me it wasn't bag boy."

"Hate to burst your bubble, but it was Dean." I said.

"I'm sorry. What did he want?" He asked me.

"He said that he missed me. I told him that I was seeing someone." I said, waiting for his response.

"I bet he didn't like that answer." Lucas said.

I laughed. "No. He really didn't like it when I told him that I was moving at the end of the school year."

"Aww the poor bag boy. Maybe he can find a new cheerleader."

"Hmm maybe I should have thought about that." I said, laughing a little. "Your funny tonight."

"I try. Listen, I'm glad you made it home okay, but I gotta go. I'm meeting the guys at the river court. I miss you though." Lucas said.

"Okay well, call me tomorrow." I said.

"I will." Lucas said and hung up.

Lorelai POV - Luke's Diner

When Rory left to head home, I figured that now was a good time to talk to Luke. I took a drink of my coffee. "Hey Luke?" I said.

Luke turned around and looked at me. "What?" He said.

"I need to tell you something." I said.

Luke walked over and leaned on the counter. "Okay, what's on your mind?" He asked me.

"Okay so I had a sister, a twin sister. When my niece was little, my sister got into a bad car accident and she died in the hospital. This week that Rory and I were gone, I went to see my niece and there was something about being in that town…it was like I could feel my sister." I said, and Luke nodded.

"I can understand that. Sometimes when I'm upstairs I can still smell my Dad's cologne." Luke said.

"Well, here's the hard part. Rory and I are moving at the end of the school year. I feel that I need to be there for my niece." I said, waiting for his reaction.

"Wow. That's um, that's big." Luke said.

"Yeah, I know. You're the first person that I've told." I said.

"Wow. I feel special." Luke said, pouring me a cup of coffee in a to-go cup.

"You should." I said as he handed me the cup. "Thanks. I should go. I'll see you tomorrow." I said standing up and starting towards the door.

"Yeah tomorrow." He said.

And we were back. The worst part was tomorrow I had to tell my parents that I was pulling Rory out of Chilton and we were moving to Tree Hill in a month and a half. On top of that, I had to tell Sookie and Jackson and I had to call Mia.

A/N: Okay so there's chapter 7. I hope that you guys enjoyed it. Next Chapter, Lorelai talks to Emily and Richard, Haley gives Nathan an answer, and Rory gets a surprise visitor.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Hey guys I know that its been a while. I have had so much going on. Not to mention that I had writer's block for a while. This is a short chapter but it's something. It's going to take me a minute to get back in the swing of writing again. Hope you guys enjoy it. You might be surprised.

Chapter 8

Rory POV

The following day, I headed over to the gazebo to meet Lane. I needed to tell her that we were moving at the end of the year. I wasn't sure how she was going to react, but I was hoping that she would in some way be happy for me. When I got to the gazebo Lane was already waiting for me. "Hey." I said when I sat down.

"Hey how was the trip?" Lane asked me.

"It was good. I ran into somebody while I was there." I told her.

She looked at me confused. "Who? Who do you know in Tree Hill besides your cousin?" She asked me.

I took a deep breath. "Bible boy." I said.

She had a shocked look on her face. "Seriously?" I nodded. "Wow."

"Yeah. There's more." I said. "While I was there, we talked about our feelings and I kissed him."

"You didn't?" She asked.

I nodded. "I did. So then we went out on a date and he asked me to be his girlfriend."

"No."

"Yup. So, I'm going up there for prom. Mom decided while we were up there that she wants a change in scenery so at the end of the school year we're moving down there." I told her.

"Your moving?" She asked me. I nodded. "Wow."

Lorelai POV - That evening…

 _That morning when I had gotten to work, I called Mia to let her know that when Rory finished school in a month and a half that we were moving to Tree Hill. She said that she would miss me but she wished me luck on mine and Rory's new adventure. Sookie on the other hand… that was a whole other situation. Sookie cried like a baby. She said that she would miss us but I told her that she could always come visit._

 _Tonight Rory and I were having dinner with my parents. We're going to tell them about us moving to Tree Hill. I know deep down that their not going to take it well. I think that their going to see it as me running away again. Who knows?_

"Mom, are you okay?" Rory asked me when I pulled into my parents driveway.

"Yeah of course." I lied.

Rory nodded. "It'll be fine mom." She said, as we climbed out of the jeep and made our way to the front door.

"I hope so kid." I said as I rang the doorbell. When the door opened the maid let us in. She took our coats and we headed toward the living room where I was sure to find Mom. Sure enough, when we walked in she was sitting on the couch. "Hey mom." I said.

"Hi Grandma." Rory said.

Mom looked up from her book. "Hi girls. How was your trip?" She asked.

Rory and I sat down on the couch across from Mom. "It was nice." I said.

"That's good. Peyton and Larry are doing well then?"

"Yeah their doing really good." I told her and then I looked at Rory. "Mom, I have something that I need to tell you." I said causing Mom to look at me. "Rory and I have decided that we need a change of scenery so at the end of the school year we're moving to Tree Hill." I said. "Now before you object, I want you to know that it's also a chance for me to get to know Peyton better and for Rory to spend more time with her." I finally finished.

"Lorelai, I think that it's a wonderful idea." Mom said.

I was shocked. "You do?" I asked.

"Well yeah, Peyton needs a mother-like figure in her life." Mom said.

"Okay then." I said.

TREE HILL…two days later…

Rivercourt… Lucas POV…

Ever since Rory went back to Stars Hollow, she asked me to keep an eye on Peyton. She and Jake had broken up before Rory left and she was worried about her. She had a complete breakdown at school today but I haven't had a chance to tell Rory about it yet. I was shooting hoops at the rivercourt when I looked over and saw Peyton getting out of her car. "Hey." I said.

"Hey." She said walking over to the picnic table and sitting on top of it.

I walked over and sat beside her. "How you doing?" I asked her.

"Rory asked you to keep an eye on me didn't she?" Peyton asked. I nodded. "I love that girl. She knew that this was going to be hard for me."

I couldn't help but smile at that. "Does Brooke know that your grandparents are from high society?" I asked her.

She shook her head. "She knows that my relationship with them is complicated, but that's really about it." Peyton said.

I nodded. "How do you feel about her and Lorelai moving here?"

She smiled. "I'm actually kind of excited. I guess part of me feels that having Lorelai here, it's like a part of my mom is coming back."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Chilton…Monday after Spring Break… Rory POV

When I got to school I was nervous about Paris asking me what I did. I wasn't sure if I wanted to even tell her that Lucas and I were even together. When I got to my locker, Paris was there waiting for me. "Morning." I said.

"How was your spring break?" She asked me.

"It was fine. I went to see my cousin in North Carolina." I told her as I opened my locker.

"Sounds like fun." Paris said sarcastically.

"There's more. This summer I'm moving." I told her. "Try not to be too happy about it." I said grabbing my books.

The day seemed to go by really fast. By the end of it though, I was really missing Lucas. Part of me wondered if Mom would let me go ahead and transfer to Tree Hill. It was something that I would have to talk to her about.

Independence Inn… Lorelai POV

When I walked into my office, I was surprised to see Mia sitting at my desk. "Mia! What are you doing here?" I asked her.

She stood up and hugged me. "Well, after you called me yesterday… I got to thinking. This is a huge opportunity and change for you. I want to enjoy this next step in your life. You deserve it, Lorelai." Mia said. "I will stay until I can find a new manager."

The next thing I knew I had tears running down my face. Even though I was excited about moving to Tree Hill, I was going to miss Mia and Stars Hollow. But there are things about Tree Hill that remind me of Stars Hollow.

"Now grab your stuff and go start packing." Mia said.

"Thanks Mia…For everything." I said. She smiled at me.

When I left the Inn, I headed to get some packing boxes. I then headed home to start packing. I couldn't wait to tell Rory that we were going to be able to move sooner than we thought.

Rory POV… Bus home…

On the way home from school, I decided to call Lucas and see how things were going. I had been worried about Peyton since her break up with Jake. And besides I hadn't really talked to him much since I'd been back home. "Hey babe." He said when he answered.

"Hey. How's things there?" I asked.

"There not bad. Nathan and Haley got married last night." Lucas said.

"Seriously?" I asked.

"Yeah. Haley made an excuse about it not being about sex but I don't know."

I could understand that. "I can kinda see where she's coming from." I said.

"Really?"

"Well, yeah. I mean…sex is a big deal." I told him. Then it hit me, sex was something that we hadn't gotten around to talking about.

There was an awkward silence. "I guess we haven't talked about any of that." Lucas said.

When the bus stopped I realized that we were in Stars Hollow. "Yeah guess not. Listen I'll call you later, I gotta write an article for the paper. Paris wants to proof it before I submit it." I said.

"Okay. Miss you Ror." He said.

I couldn't help but smile. "Miss you too Luke." I said and hung up.

When I got off the bus I headed towards my house. When I got there I was surprised that Mom was there. I figured that she would have been working late. When I walked into the house, I noticed that their were boxes all over the place. "Mom!" I yelled.

"Upstairs." She called down.

"Mom come down here. There's boxes everywhere." I yelled. A few minutes later Mom came downstairs. "Mom, what's going on? I came home and there's boxes everywhere." I said.

"Well, here's the thing…" Mom says and starts telling me that Mia was at the Inn today and told her to start our new adventure. "So when I got home today I called Headmaster Charleston and told him that today was your last day and to forward your records to Tree Hill High."

I lunged at Mom and wrapped my arms around her. "So what your saying is that as soon as we finish packing we can go?" I asked her.

"Yep. That's what I'm saying." Mom said with a smile.

Tree Hill…3 days later…

Lucas POV… Karen's Café…

I was really missing Rory. I was beginning to think that this long distance thing was going to be harder than I thought. After school that day, I headed over to the café. I wanted to see if Mom had talked to Lorelai recently. I guess I was kinda worried that Rory was rethinking our whole relationship. When I walked into the café Mom was standing at the counter. "Hey Ma." I said, sitting down.

"Hey Luke. How was school?" She asked me.

"Not bad. Hey, have you heard from Lorelai recently?" I asked.

"Yeah, she called earlier. She wanted me to see if you would go by and check on their house. She said that she was gonna start sending up some of their stuff." Mom said.

"Really? That's kinda soon isn't it? I mean aren't they gonna need their stuff in Stars Hollow?"

"I don't know. Maybe she decided that their gonna come up sooner than she originally thought." Mom said.

I nodded. "Yeah alright. I'll go check on the house." Mom smiled at me and handed me the house key that Lorelai had left her.

I headed over to Lorelai and Rory's new house. The outside looked the same, just like it did every morning that I had looked over at it on my way to school. I used the key that Mom had given me and let myself in. As I walked into the house, I realized that Rory was right, Peyton's paint job had turned out good. Which of course I knew that it would. Peyton's an incredible artist. I walked through the house and when I was done I walked back out to the front porch and sat down on the front steps. Just as I sat down, I noticed Peyton walking up.

"Hey what're you doing here?" I asked her.

"I went by the café to find you. Your mom said that you'd be here." Peyton said.

"What's on your mind?"

"Nothing really. Brooke's hanging out with Chase and my dad's still gone. I didn't exactly want to be alone." Peyton said.

"That's different."

"Yeah I know. Don't judge okay?"

"No that." I said pointing at the moving truck that was backing into the driveway.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10…Rory POV

"Mom, do you think that everyone is going to be surprised that we're back so soon?" I asked her as we got off the Tree Hill exit.

"I think so Rory. I just hope that we're going to be happy here." Mom said.

"Me too, Mom. I was surprised that Grandma didn't put up a fight when you told her."

"You and me both. I thought that I was going to have to explain it to her more."

"How did Luke take it when you told him?" I asked her.

"I think that he took it okay." Mom said, giving me a look. "Why do you ask?"

"Mom, come on, you really don't see it?" I asked, causing her to look confused. "Mom, Luke's in love with you."

"No he's not." Mom said, in denial.

"If you say so." I said leaning back and putting my earbuds back in. It wouldn't be long and we would be back in Tree Hill and I could see Lucas.

Lucas POV - Rory's Driveway

"No that." I said pointing at the moving truck that was backing into the driveway. Once the moving van was parked in the driveway, a familiar looking Jeep pulled up to the curb. I saw Lorelai and Rory climb out. I looked over at Peyton. "Did you know?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Nope not a clue." She said.

We both stood up and walked over to them. When we got to the jeep, I smiled at Rory. "Surprise." She said.

"What are you doing here?" Peyton asked her.

"Mom got it worked out with her boss so that we could go ahead and move." Rory said.

"How'd Grandma take it?"

"Better than anyone would expect. She didn't object one time." Rory said.

"That's surprising." Peyton said.

"Sure is." Rory said with a smile. Lorelai had walked over to the moving van to start directing the movers, so Peyton went to join her. "Happy to see me?" She asked me.

I stepped closer to her and wrapped my arms around her. "Absolutely. So no more Stars Hollow?" I asked her.

She shook her head. "Nope. I'm here to stay." She said.

We turned towards her house and I put my arm around her shoulders. "Well, I'm glad. I was beginning to miss you too much." I said.

Rory POV

Mom suggested that while the movers were moving everything in, that I go hang out with Lucas. We headed over to the Café. I was happy to be back that was for sure. Lucas was pretty quiet on the walk over to the café. When we walked into the café it was pretty slow. I saw Karen behind the counter with her back to us. "What's a girl gotta do to get a decent cup of coffee?" I asked.

Karen turned around. "Rory! You're here!" She came running around the counter over to Lucas and I. She wrapped her arms around me, hugging me tight. When she let go of me, I noticed that she was staring at me. "I didn't think that you guys were coming back till the end of the school year?" Karen asked me.

Lucas and I walked over to the counter and sat down. "Well, that was supposed to be the plan… but Mom's boss gave her some speech about starting her new adventure. So when I got home from school, we packed everything up, hired a moving truck and we hit the road." I told her.

Karen walked back around the counter and poured me a cup of coffee. "Well we're glad to have you back." She said.

"It's good to be back." I said.

The three of us sat there and talked for a while. We heard the bell jingle above the door signaling that someone had come in. The three of us turned to look. "Well what do we have here?" The man said.

"What do you want, Dan?" Karen asked him.

"I came to have a chat with Lucas." Dan said.

Lucas stood up and walked to stand in front of me. "What do you want?" Lucas asked.

"Where's Nathan? Deb said that he moved out but wouldn't tell me where." Dan said.

"How would I know? Nathan and I don't exactly have a close bond thanks to you."

"Well if you see him tell him I'm looking for him." Dan said before turning around and walking out.

Lucas turned around to see me and Karen both staring at him. "Nathan and Haley haven't told Deb and Dan that their married." Lucas said.

"Still?" Karen asked and Lucas nodded. "This could potentially end badly."

"I still can't believe that they got married." I added.

Peyton POV - Rory & Lorelai's House

"So… Aunt Lorelai can I ask you something?" I asked.

Aunt Lorelai sat the box down that she was moving. "Sure thing kiddo. What's on your mind?" She said.

"What was Mom like when she was mine and Rory's age?" I asked. I had been curious and I couldn't exactly ask my dad since he was usually gone. I couldn't ask Grandma. She wouldn't even talk about Mom on the rare occasion that I actually talked to her.

"Oh. Well, she was very spirited. She was a cheerleader like you, but I think that you already knew that." She said and I nodded. "Your grandma seemed to always put her on a pedestal. Your mom, she couldn't do anything wrong… unlike me. She was very popular with everyone that she met." It was nice to actually hear about my mom. "I think that I might have some pictures somewhere. I'll look for them once I get everything unpacked."

"Thanks Aunt Lorelai." I said.

She walked over and hugged me. "I think your old enough now that you can drop the aunt."

I couldn't help but smile. "Thanks. I gotta go meet Brooke." I told her.

"See ya."

 _Maybe things were going to start looking up. I was going to have to remember to talk to Rory later and find out exactly how Grandma reacted, cause I'm sure that she wasn't just okay with everything._

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it's been so long. Life has a way of interrupting my writing. I finished another story (It's All My Fault) and someone suggested that I focus on this one next, so this was the next chapter. I hope that you guys enjoyed it. Do you guys prefer single POV or Multiple. Let me know. And now Dan has made an appearance. Next chapter, Nikki makes an appearance at Peyton's house.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Hey guys! Alright I have another chapter for you. I'm having trouble writing this story. I didn't think that I would. Anyway, I hope that you guys like this Chapter.

Chapter 11

Lucas POV - Nathan/Haley's Apartment

When Rory and I left the Café, we headed over to Nathan and Haley's apartment. I had to tell them that Dan had stopped by the café looking for him. "Are you okay?" Rory asked me.

She didn't know much about my relationship with Dan but she could tell when I was upset about something. She could always tell, ever since the day that we met. "Yeah. I'm kind of used to Dan treating me like crap." I told her.

We were walking up the steps to Nathan and Haley's apartment, when Rory stopped walking. "You shouldn't have to be used to it." She said.

"I know but I am." I said, as I finished climbing up the stairs.

"Luke, you seriously don't want to talk about this?"

"No, I don't. Just drop it Ror." I told her. She had been pushing the issue since we left the café. I loved her but sometimes she just didn't know how to let something go.

"Fine. I'll let it go." She said. No she won't.

I reached the door and knocked on it. It didn't take long before Nathan opened it. "Hey man. Rory, your back?" He said to us.

"Hey man. So uh… Dan stopped by the café this afternoon." I said.

Nathan opened the door to let us in, and then he walked over to the fridge getting a couple bottles of water. "Oh yeah. How'd that go?" He said.

"Nate, you still haven't told your Mom and Dan that you and Haley got married?" I asked him.

"Congrats by the way." Rory said as we sat at the breakfast bar.

Nathan looked over at Rory. "Thanks." He said, before turning back to me. "I haven't seen them."

"You mean you've been avoiding them." I said. He leaned back against the counter. "You know that your going to have to tell them at some point right?"

"Yes Luke! I know. God! Sometimes your as bad as Haley." Nathan said.

"You know what Nate! Do what you want… I'm just your brother trying to help." I said. I stood up and stepped toward the door. "Come on Ror." I said, opening the door.

Peyton POV - Her Front Porch

I was happy that Rory was back but I still hadn't been able to get Jake out of my head. He'd quit taking my calls and responding to my emails. I didn't even know where he was. I missed him like crazy. Brooke had dragged me to a party at Duke last weekend but it didn't seem to help my mood. I needed a new project in my life. It needed something to get my mind off of Jake. Prom was coming up and I wanted to make it the best time ever with my friends.

I was sitting on my front porch working on a new sketch when I heard a car door. At first I thought that maybe it might have been Brooke but then I looked up. Nikki. "What do you want Nikki?" I asked.

She stood at the bottom of the porch steps. "Where's Jake?" She asked me.

I rolled my eyes. "I don't know where Jake is and even if I did I wouldn't tell you." I said.

"Peyton, Peyton, Peyton… You gotta know that Jake doesn't love you, right? Cause I mean, if he did… he wouldn't have ran with my daughter." Nikki said.

I sat my sketch pad down beside me and glared at Nikki. "You gotta know that there had to be a mix-up at the hospital right? I mean there's no way that you could have had Jenny… she doesn't look like a bitch and she sure as hell doesn't act like one." I told her.

"Look Peyton, Jake's not thinking clearly. He thinks that he's doing what's best but in reality… he doesn't know the truth." Nikki said.

"And what's the truth Nikki?" I asked her, waiting for whatever lie she was about to tell.

"Jake isn't Jenny's dad. I was already pregnant when Jake and I slept together." Nikki said, causing me to roll my eyes.

"Just go Nikki. I don't know where Jake is. Okay?" I said. She nodded, turning around and walking off.


End file.
